Dad in tears as daughter, 23, suffers 'worst injury doctors have seen' on dream HGV job

Dad in tears as daughter, 23, suffers 'worst injury doctors have seen' on dream HGV job EXCLUSIVE: The father of a young woman, 23, has given an emotional interview to this reporter after his daughter has been left facing an uncertain future after a devastating crash An emotional father feels “lucky” that his daughter is still alive — after she suffered catastrophic injuries from being hit by a car. Matthew Bowles broke down in tears when talking about the devastating impact the terrifying crash has had on his daughter Sophie Bowles. The young woman, 23, ended up being dragged five metres by a car before being crushed against a chipper. Sophie, who is from Powys, Wales, was working her dream job as an HGV driver and highway maintenance operative when her world was turned upside down. And despite surviving the horror smash, her pelvis had internal bleeding and was broken in nine places, her right femur was shattered in half, her right hip was crushed and she suffered nerve damage in her leg. She has also had three major operations this month. Although her future is uncertain, she has shown remarkable mental strength since the incident on July 13, and asked whether this was a surprise to him, Matthew struggled to hold in his emotions. He told this reporter: “It is a bit of both. She is a strong girl, I expected some strength. But with what she has gone through… I think it still might hit yet. I am extremely proud of her, she is such a brave girl… sorry. “It has knocked us all for six, I will be honest with you.” Sophie was hit by a car on Monday, July 13 and Matthew was informed after getting a call from his boss. He works at the same company as his daughter and he was initially told that an ambulance had been called and it was expected that Sophie had broken her leg. However, he told us: “Obviously that wasn’t the case. It was a bit more serious than that. “Initially there was a bit of shock, a bit of disbelief, then you're like, 'Ok, it’s a broken leg, we can deal with that.' Hopefully it is nothing more serious.” Sophie was rushed to Southmead Hospital in Bristol where she was met by her heartbroken parents. Seeing her for the first time, Matthew said: “It was at that point we realised it wasn’t a broken leg… it was a lot more.” He added: “It was a tremendous shock. Absolutely mind-blowing. You see it on 24 Hours In A&E and you never even imagine you are going to be thrust into that situation. “I can only liken it to being pushed out of an aeroplane without a parachute trying to figure out what the hell to do. It is like a bottomless pit.” Since then, Sophie has had three major operations, to help fix her hip, femur, pelvis and sciatic nerve. And giving a stark insight into how serious his daughter’s injuries were, he said: “The surgeon who was absolutely outstanding said that it was the worst pelvic injury that she had ever seen in a surviving patient. I think we are lucky to still have her.” Sophie will have to remain in hospital for several more weeks and Matthew has set up a GoFundMe for his daughter’s recovery. He explained: “We know that Sophie is not going to have the quality of life that she had before this so we needed to get her a bigger room. Her room at the minute is very small; it is only just big enough for a bed to put in sideways. “We decided that we needed to extend out to the garage and create a wet room so she can sit down and shower because she is not going to be able to shower. It is going to take years for her to get back to a point where she can function normally. It is a long road. We decided we needed to do something. “I didn’t know where else to go and I thought a fundraiser would be the best place to start to get some funds together.” And speaking about how Sophie, who also spent time in ICU, is processing this, he added: “She is an extremely strong-minded and strong-willed girl, she is not going to let it beat her. “But I think we are still in the very early stages of accepting what happened so she was initially dead set against us doing a fundraiser on GoFundMe because she said she didn’t need it. “As the days have gone on she has realised she is not quite as well as she thought she was so she has agreed to it.” And writing on the GoFundMe, he added: “Sophie is an extremely hard working woman and has helped so many people in her life. Any help is much appreciated.” Regarding the incident, a spokesperson for Gwent Police said: “We received a report of a road traffic collision on B4521 towards Abergavenny at around 5.25pm on Monday 13 July. “Officers attended alongside paramedics from the Welsh Ambulance Service. The collision involved a pedestrian and a car; she remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition. This incident has been reported to the Health and Safety Executive for review.” You can make a donation to Sophie’s fundraiser here